Why study American studies?

Because American studies offers a creative environment to learn, think, and reflect about American culture, history, and communities from both a national and global perspective.

Requirements for the Minor

Students selecting this minor must complete the following:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Core Courses
Select by at least 4 courses (12 hours) of the following:		12
AMS/SOC 260	America's Latinos/Latinas
AMS 520	Topics in Latino Studies: _____ (may be repeated for credit as the topic changes)
ANTH 562	Mexamerica
LAA 302	Topics in Latin American Area Studies:_____
LAA 602	Topics in Latin American Studies: _____
ENGL 337	Introduction to U.S. Latino/a Literature
ENGL 573	U.S. Latina/o Literature: _____ (may be repeated for credit as the topic changes)
POLS 619	Topics in American Politics: ______ (Latino Politics)
SPAN 464	Reading and Analysis of U.S. Latino/a Literatures: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SW 455	Topics in Social Welfare: _____ (Social Work with Latinos)
The following topics courses also may count toward the minor, if the particular topic offered in a given semester focuses on U.S. Latino/as:
AMS 344	Case Study in American Studies: _____
AMS 536	Ethnicity in the United States: _____
AMS 494	Topics in: _____
AMS 551/553	Research Project in American Studies (if the research focuses on U.S. Latino/as)
SPAN 440	Hispanic Studies: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 540	Colloquium on Hispanic Studies: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SW 555	Diversity, Oppression, and Social Justice: Culturally Competent Social Work
A course with a service-learning component, such as one of the following, may also count in this category, with permission of the Latino/a studies advisor, if the service learning component is in a Latino/a community in the U.S.:
AMS 552	Public Service in American Studies
SPAN 330	Service Learning Internship Spanish I (variable credit)
SOC 490	Internship in Sociology
Other courses with at least 75 percent U.S. Latino/a content may count toward the minor with permission of the Latino/a studies advisor.
Latino/a Studies Required Electives
Students selecting this minor must complete 2 additional courses (6 hours) from any course above not used to satisfy the requirement and any of the following:		6
AMS/SOC 110	American Identities
AMS/SOC 112	American Identities, Honors
AMS/GEOG 576	Cultural Geography of the United States
ENGL 340	Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literature: _____ (if the topic includes U.S. Latino/a literature)
GEOG 591	Geography of Latin America
GEOG 592	Middle American Geography
HIST 471	Social History of South America
HIST 573	Latin America in the 19th Century
HIST 574	Slavery in the New World
HIST 575	The Many Faces of Mexico
HIST 576	History of the Caribbean and Central America
HIST 580	Economic History of Latin America
LAA 100	Latin American Culture and Society
LAA 302/602	Topics in Latin American Area Studies:_____ (Sports and Politics in Latin America)
LAA 302/602	Topics in Latin American Area Studies:_____ (The Latin American Left)
LAA 332	Language and Society in Latin America
or LAA 333	Language and Society in Latin America, Honors
LAA 335	The Politics of Language in Latin America
POLS 658	Theories of Politics in Latin America
POLS 659	Political Dynamics of Latin America
POLS 670	United States Foreign Policy
SOC/AMS 332	The United States in Global Context
SOC/AMS 522	American Racial and Ethnic Relations
SOC/AMS 534	Global Ethnic and Racial Relations
SOC 630	Latin American Society
SPAN 447	Latin American Cultures: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 460	Colonial Spanish-American Studies: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 461	Nineteenth Century Spanish-American Studies: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 462	Twentieth Century Spanish-American Studies: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 463	National Traditions in Spanish America: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 471	Studies in Spanish-American Culture and Civilization: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 475	Studies in Latin-American Literature and Culture: _____ (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 560	Colloquium on Latin American Film (conducted in Spanish)
SPAN 566	Latin American Folklore
SW 560	Study Abroad Topics: _____ (International Social Work (when in Costa Rica))
SW 560	Study Abroad Topics: _____ (Intercultural Community Social Service (when in Costa Rica))
Other appropriate courses on Latin America, its cultures, countries, geography, history, politics, economy, and/or people, or other relevant courses on the U.S., may also count toward this requirement, with the approval of the Latino/a studies advisor.
Latino/a Minor Discipline Breadth
Satisfied by courses from at least 3 departments.

 

Latino/a Studies Minor Hours & Minor GPA

While completing all required courses, minors must also meet each of the following hour and GPA minimum standards:

Minor Hours
Satisfied by 18 hours of minor courses.

Minor Hours in Residence
Satisfied by a minimum of 9 hours of KU resident credit in the minor.

Minor Junior/Senior (300+) Hours
Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the minor.

Minor Graduation GPA
Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in all departmental courses in the minor. GPA calculations include all courses in the field of study including F’s and repeated courses. See the Semester/Cumulative GPA Calculator.